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Michigan housing chief resigns after billing state for thousands for meals, travel

Scott Woosley, executive director of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, resigned Friday after reports surfaced of his seeking reimbursement for expensive meals, alcohol and travel while on state business.

After a story was published Thursday in the Detroit Free Press, Woosley issued a statement saying he would never expect the state to reimburse him for things he should not have been. The spending was uncovered by the Michigan Democratic Party in a records request.

Documents showed Woosley billed the state for a dinner consisting only of 15-year-old rum, lunches at gourmet restaurants for hundreds of dollars and stays in five-star hotels while on overseas business.

On Thursday, Woosley asked the Treasury Department to determine if he received payment for anything he should not have, and if so, promised to write a personal check to reimburse the state.

Woosley said then he planned to “continue to do the good work we have started.”

Less than a day later, after calls from top Democrats for Woosley to resign, he did just that.

“I don’t want recent news reports to be a distraction from the transformative work that is happening at MSHDA and across the state,” Woosley said in a statement.

Woosley came to MSHDA in 2012, from Troy-based Labor-Management Fund Advisors LLC, where he was a principal and one of its founders.

He is also resigning as president and CEO of the Michigan Community Development Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of MSHDA that houses the state’s EB-5 regional center. The center is focused on attracting wealthy immigrants who can receive a green card for themselves and their family if they invest $1 million, or $500,000 in a high unemployment or rural area, in a business that creates at least 10 jobs here.

Woosley had been to China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to pitch Michigan to potential investors interested in coming to Michigan and had expected to have a deal done by the end of the year.

The expenses he racked up on many of those trips are on what the Michigan Democratic Party keyed in.

“Gov. Snyder has created a culture that turns a blind eye to the misuse of public funds and the public trust. Snyder must be held accountable for these repeated, systematic abuses, and that's why we're demanding a comprehensive, independent audit of departments within the administration,” Lon Johnson, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said in a statement.

House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, said in a statement it was right for Woosley to resign.

“However, this must not end here. I renew my call for the State Auditor General to immediately conduct a thorough investigation into travel and other spending at MSHDA, the Department of Treasury and throughout the Snyder administration,” Greimel said.

State Treasurer Kevin Clinton, who serves as chair of the MSHDA board, will recommend at its next meeting that the board appoint Deputy State Treasurer Wayne Workman as acting-executive director of MSHDA.